Chapter 37
THIRTY-SEVEN
After Hazel left, Ellie called a briefing with the team.
Deputies Eastwood and Landrum, and her captain gathered in the conference room.
Derrick loped in, Tilly Higgins, a journalist who focused on stories involving mysteries in small town, beside him.
A while back Ellie and Derrick had met her while solving a case involving Tilly’s missing sister.
They exchanged hellos then gathered around the conference table.
“Thanks for being here for the updates.” Ellie gestured to Minnie’s photo.
Beside the picture, she wrote Minnie’s name and age then pointed to the photo of Iris Hazel had supplied.
“Now we know the little girl’s name and age, let’s circulate the photo to the press, law enforcement agencies and the database for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ”
For a moment, the room grew quiet as everyone took in Iris’s sweet little cherub face with her big beautiful blue eyes.
While the silence reigned, she wrote questions besides each photo.
Who killed Minnie?
Where is Iris?
“I’ll send the pic to NCMEC,” Derrick said.
Ellie nodded. The sooner they did that the better.
Captain Hale raised a finger. “I’ll notify Angelica Gomez.”
Ellie nodded again, then filled them in on her conversation with Minnie’s parents and sister, listing them on the board and adding photographs. Hazel’s picture came next.
“This woman, Hazel, runs a non-profit called Sanctuary House, which provides housing and support for troubled teens. Apparently, Minnie and Iris were living with her. Minnie was taking classes to finish her high school diploma and attending AA regularly. Another teen, named Clara, who also lives with Hazel, insisted Minnie was a devoted loving mother.” She paused and added their names then pictures of Minnie’s parents.
“Minnie’s mother seemed upset when I made the death notification but her father was hostile.
He wants nothing to do with Iris.” She gestured toward Shondra.
“Deputy Eastwood, I want you to dig deep into the Bentons, especially the father and see if he has a past indicating violence or alleged abuse, physical or sexual. Also verify his alibi for the night Minnie disappeared.”
She added their names and a question mark beside Mr. Benton’s name.
“On it,” Shondra said.
“Deputy Landrum, did you find anything on Minnie’s background?”
He glanced at his notebook. “Minnie was arrested for a DUI, underage drinking and driving without a license when she was fifteen.”
“Before she left home?” Ellie asked.
Landrum nodded.
Ellie winced. “So she made mistakes, but at least she was cleaning up her act.”
“Where was she before she moved into Sanctuary House?” Tilly asked.
“Living in a hostel where students, travelers, workers and transient kids sleep and seek shelter. The social worker who checks on kids there encouraged Minnie to go to Sanctuary House and to receive prenatal care.”
“Is it possible Minnie became pregnant after she ran away?” Shondra asked. “Perhaps from one of the boys at the hostel.”
“I considered that,” Ellie said. “But the timing doesn’t fit.
” She paused and took a breath. “When I visited one of Minnie’s high school friends, she said she hadn’t heard from Minnie since she ran away, but that the last few months Minnie lived at home, she was withdrawn, depressed.
Minnie’s friend Janet heard Minnie vomiting in the bathroom at school a few times but thought Minnie had an eating disorder.
But it’s possible she was suffering from morning sickness and hiding the pregnancy. ”
“She ran away because of the pregnancy?” Shondra cut in.
“It fits with the timing of Iris’s age and Minnie leaving home.”
“Do we know the identity of Iris’s father?” Derrick asked.
“Not yet. Hazel brought in a toothbrush and hairbrush belonging to Iris, and I’ve sent them to the lab.
Hopefully DNA will lead us to his identity,” Ellie said.
“Landrum, I need you to go to the house of a young man named Marty Burgess and bring him in for questioning. According to Minnie’s sister, Minnie had a crush on him.
We need to know if they had a sexual relationship. ”
Deputy Landrum spoke, “I’ll get right on that.”
Ellie and Derrick exchanged an understanding look. “Of course, there’s another possibility. The little girl could have been abducted for more dire reasons like human trafficking or a baby-selling ring.”
Derrick cleared his throat. “I’ll research that angle.”
Tilly raised her hand. “I’ll talk to locals in Mystic and find out more about the town. Maybe the town historian or a local will fill in the blanks about the other suicides. Gossip about the family, suspicions that they weren’t suicides, that kind of thing.”
“Good idea, that could be helpful,” Ellie agreed. “Although they were labeled suicides, I’ll pull those cases and compare for commonalities with Minnie’s death.”
“Do you think the feathers were at the scene before she died?” Shondra asked.
“I think the killer put them there.” Ellie added a photo of the way Minnie had been found on the board.
“That area is known for its abundance of birds. Crows feed on other birds, especially their eggs and nestlings, so they’re drawn to the area.
But last night when I arrived home, there were crow feathers strewn on my driveway.
The intruder also left a dead crow on my bed.
Ranger McClain, Deputy Landrum and the ERT were at my property for hours processing the scene.
” She added photos documenting their findings, cringing inside.
Concerned voices rumbled. Derrick’s face tightened, anger blazing in his eyes.
“We should pull you from the case,” Captain Hale said.
“I agree,” Derrick said, his dark gaze meeting Ellie’s.
“Don’t even think about it,” Ellie said between gritted teeth. “This unsub made it personal, and I refuse to let him run me from my own home or town.”
She used a pointer to outline the layout of the feathers around Minnie. “If you look, there’s a pattern.”
“A bird’s wing. Broken,” Shondra said.
“The crows definitely have some significance to him,” Ellie said, certain they were onto something.
“Now we just have to figure out what it is. Tilly, while you’re talking to locals, ask about Midnight Ridge.
Also if anyone has noticed a pattern of crow feathers on the ridge before.
Maybe our unsub is a birdwatcher or a scientist who studies birds, like an ornithologist. I’ll ask Cord to look into that angle. ”
The team disbanded to handle the assignments, and Ellie studied the whiteboard, especially the feathers.
Had feathers been found near the other suicides?